Name? Erin Shilling
Current position? Middle School Teacher
How long have you been in education? This is my 4th year teaching.
What’s a little known fact about you? A little known fact about me is that I love to bake.
When does your job feel the hardest? What helps you get through those hard days? The days that are the hardest are the days that I feel unappreciated or undervalued. What helps me get through those tough days are my amazing coworkers.
What makes your heart sing as a teacher? Can you describe a recent day or moment like that? As a teacher my heart sings that moment when the hard work pays off. For example working with a student the other day I must have explained the concept in at least 5 different ways to try and help a student understand. FINALLY it clicked and he was able to not only complete the task but complete it with amazing success!!
Who was your favorite teacher and why? My favorite teacher was my high school Government teacher, Mrs. Koch. She was able to take something that I was originally bored with and turn it into something that interested me to the point that I wanted to become a teacher. She took the time to bond with every student and learn about our lives, which in a 6A school takes a lot of effort!
Five items you can’t teach without? My calendar, my amazing coworkers, passion, compassion and energy.
Three books you would recommend to a fellow teacher?
The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change by Adam Braun,
“Why Won’t You Just Tell Us the Answer?”: Teaching Historical Thinking in Grades 7-12 by Bruce A. Lesh
Reluctant Disciplinarian: Advice on Classroom Management from a Softy Who Became (Eventually) a Successful Teacher by Gary Rubenstein
Social Media/On-Line teaching tools: What are 2-3 sites that you use to support your teaching? What is your favorite app you use as a teacher?
Website: Read Write Think http://www.readwritethink.org/,
Website: History Tech https://historytech.wordpress.com/
App: Google Drive!!!
Best teaching advice you ever got? “You can’t make chicken salad out of chicken s***” or in other words you cannot make wonderful things happen unless the students are interested in it and they choose to try.
Advice you would give to a new teacher or something you learned that you wished had known earlier in your career? Something I wish I had known earlier in my career is that you cannot expect everything to be perfect all of the time. But things will always work out in the end.
What do you do to recharge? Running always helps me to refocus and de-stress. I know it doesn’t sound like it would help recharge but it really does!!!
Poem or quote that you love? “How people treat you is their karma, not yours.” – Wayne Dyer.
Thanks Erin!
Come join the fun and fill out your own Interview and send it to teachingwithheartfirepoetry@gmail.com.
Teaching with Heart Interview Questions
- Name?
- Current position?
- How long have you been in education?
- What’s a little known fact about you?
- When does your job feel the hardest? What helps you get through those hard days?
- What makes your heart sing as a teacher? Can you describe a recent day or moment like that?
- Who was your favorite teacher and why?
- Five items you can’t teach without?
- Three books you would recommend to a fellow teacher?
- Social Media/On-Line teaching tools: What are 2-3 sites that you use to support your teaching? What is your favorite app you use as a teacher?
- Best teaching advice you ever got?
- Advice you would give to a new teacher or something you learned that you wished had known earlier in your career?
- What do you do to recharge?
- Poem or quote that you love?
Please include a photo. It would be great to have one of you at work in your classroom or office (if you include others, please make sure you have their permission to post the picture) or a selfie will do. Thanks!
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